Page 54 of The Heart Breaker

How stupid is that? Letting some guy veto what I do with my own body.

I’m not doing that again. Not for Chase, or Cole, or any other guy who thinks he gets to decide what I can and can’t do with my body.

“I just wasn’t sure about it,” I lie, lifting one shoulder. “But I’m getting it today.”

Isabella looks over, her brows lifting. “Today?”

“Yep.” I take a sip of coffee, washing down the bite of pancake. “If I don’t do it today, I’ll talk myself out of it.”

Ryan chuckles as he cuts into another piece of pancake. “You’re impulsive as hell.”

I shrug, flashing him a smile. “Better than being boring.”

He lets out a laugh and then goes straight back to demolishing the pancakes his girlfriend made.

I pull my phone back and look down at the sketch again.

I’m getting this damn tattoo.

Even if it means having to see the guy I’ve spent the last week avoiding.

18

COLE

Idon’t understand people who say rain is relaxing.

It’s not peaceful. It’s fucking loud.

It’s been hammering against the front windows of the shop since I opened this morning, a relentless tap-tap-tap that drills straight into my skull. The street outside’s covered in puddles, which means walk-ins are dead. No one’s braving a downpour for a random flash tattoo unless they’re drunk, and it’s too early for that.

So, I’m stuck doing all the boring shit that needs to be done around here, like tossing used razors into the sharps bin and wiping down everything with disinfectant.

I just want to ink skin, hear the buzz of the machine, and get lost in a design that makes the noise in my head quiet for a while.

I shove the drawer closed with my hip, pull my phone out, and open my banking app.

She hasn’t used the card in two days. Not for groceries, not for anything.

I stare at the screen for a second, my jaw getting tighter with every heartbeat banging against my chest.

I hope I’m just overthinking shit and that she’s fine, but the part of me that knows my father is a useless piece of shit is already running through worst-case scenarios. I’d starve before letting my sister miss a meal, but I know how she is. She doesn’t want to inconvenience me even after I’ve assured her a hundred times that she could never.

I lock my phone and shove it back into my pocket when I hear the front door open. Alex is managing the counter today, so I don’t bother rushing out.

But after a few seconds, I hear him laugh, and my brows tug together. Alex isn’t the laughing type. He’s quiet, keeps to himself, is covered in more piercings than I have tattoos, and absolutely not the kind of guy who giggles with customers.

Curiosity digs in, so I toss the towel onto the cart and head toward the front. I round the corner and my steps stutter, stopping me dead.

Alex is behind the counter, leaning forward over the glass, and on the other side of the front desk, with one hip tipped against the glass, is Aurora fucking Prescott.

“I think the outside of the thigh is classic,” Alex says, scrolling through the reference photo on her phone. “But the spine would look sick too. Up to you, obviously.”

She arches a brow, tilts her head just a fraction as she considers it. “I want it where I can see it,” she says. “Not tucked away on my spine for… whoever ends up behind me.”

Alex nods, swallowing hard, and I can practically hear the thoughts rattling around in his skull.Jesus, man, don’t be so obvious.

I almost scoff out loud.